Alice in Borderland ~ Chishiya

43

'I don't know..' Kuina mumbles when we reach the crossroad. For the umpteenth time I check that no psychopath is trying to shoot at us before I look at her. 'Hey,' I try to say encouragingly, 'this won't be the last time we'll see each other.' I don't know if I'm trying harder to convince her or myself. It can't be that this goodbye is forever. She seems to want to say something, but then she puts her arms around me and holds me tight. 'Thanks, Kimora, for everything.' I lean back slightly and look at her encouragingly. 'We'll just meet again in a few days,' I reply. 'Then, we can tell each other which games we've played and we can think about ways to stop that psychopath together.'

She pulls her mouth up slightly before hugging me again. I hold her tight and allow myself to feel the happiness of having her come into my life. We let go of each other. Kuina glances at Raiden and Chishiya before smiling at me again. 'Good luck,' she says seriously. 'Good luck to you, too,' I say. She turns and starts to walk away. She no longer looks at us, but looks around carefully to see if she doesn't accidentally bump into the king of spades. I watch her turn the corner and then turn around with a sigh.

The two boys and I begin to walk away in silence. I try not to look at Chishiya too much, but I can't think about anything but how nice it felt to be so close to him last night. I can still feel his arm around me. I can still feel him caressing my shoulder and I can still feel those tingles inside my body.

I don't know if I like that we have to walk a long way with him or not. I prefer to have him in my environment for as long as possible, but at the same time, I know that it will be even more difficult to say goodbye. I fear the moment we reach the crossroad where he'll eventually have to turn right, on his way to the jack of diamonds, and we go straight on, on our way to the queen of spades. I secretly hope that he doesn't want to say goodbye to me and that he takes so many breaks in between because of that. When I recall our moment from yesterday, I'm sure it's the case.

I don't know if Raiden really isn't aware or if he just likes to make a stupid comment to Chishiya, but when we pause for the third time, he says with a grin: 'You're certainly glad you can choose to skip the spades games.' Chishiya seems annoyed, but he doesn't take the bait, much to Raiden's disappointment. 'Something like that,' is his reply. He tries not to, but while resting and drinking the water I see him looking at me now and then, after which he sometimes lowers his eyes a bit shyly. This guy is making it harder and harder to say goodbye later on.

'What game are you going to play after the jack of diamonds?' Raiden suddenly asks him. I don't know why he's asking that, but it's probably to gauge where he doesn't want us to go. 'Whichever one is closest at the time,' Chishiya mumbles with a shrug, 'the queen or the king, I don't really care.' I immediately try to suppress the emerging panic. Chishiya's smart. He'll be fine. 'And you?' he asks. Would he like to know where to find me? My body's like a rollercoaster, because now I have to do my best to suppress hope.

'Um,' Raiden mumbles, looking at me. If I'm some sort of boss or anything. 'Maybe the jack of spades?' I nod at him. 'Probably, yes,' I reply with a slight smile. 'It depends on how gruelling the queen of spades was. Maybe we'll be in bed for days to recover.' Raiden starts laughing. 'Then this time, it's my turn to take care of you,' he says, 'because you've done that for me so many times.' As soon as he has finished speaking, I see him looking at Chishiya briefly. The smile Raiden had on his face now turns into a grin. I look at Chishiya to find out why, but he has already averted his gaze. 'And if the jack of spades has already been cleared?' he still continues.

'Maybe I'll start with the hearts if that were the case,' I hear myself mumbling. My statement gives me a questioning look from both boys. 'Yeah?' Raiden asks. 'Would you rather start on the hearts than the clubs?' I shrug. Maybe. I don't really like playing with people. Besides.. 'I don't think I finished those four games of hearts for nothing,' I say. 'We'll see,' Raiden mumbles. It sounds like he's not going to give himself a hearts game. But someone has to get them, right? Otherwise, we'll never complete the second stage. I'm not going to rely on others to clear the games for me. I dare to trust Kuina and Chishiya with that, but not random players.